Category Archives: Conversations

Recovering the Lost Art of Diplomacy in Educational Leadership…

20 Friday Mar 2026

Posted by in Classroom Leadership, Conversations, Diplomacy, Education, Educational Leadership, Expectations, Experience, Leader, Leadership, Perception, Perspective, Reflection, Respect, Responsibility, Trust

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Recently I came across a piece from Hillsdale College’s Imprimis titled Recovering the Lost Art of Diplomacy. The article reflects on how diplomacy, once considered an essential leadership skill, has gradually given way to something very different. Instead of patience, listening, and relationship-building, we often see speed, reaction, and public positioning. Reading it made me think about how that same shift is playing out in education. So as you can see, I have been a little creative with the title of this blog, calling it Recovering the Lost Art of Diplomacy in Educational Leadership.

Educational leadership has always required diplomacy.

Schools sit at the intersection of community expectations, political realities, family priorities, and student needs. Too often, it feels like a busy intersection where no one is stopping or yielding. Everyone just keeps barreling through. Navigating those intersections well requires more than technical knowledge or managerial skill. It requires the ability to listen carefully, speak thoughtfully, and bring people together around shared goals, even when they approach issues from very different perspectives.

At its best, diplomacy in educational leadership is quiet work. It happens in conversations before meetings begin. It happens in the effort to understand the concern behind someone’s frustration. It happens when leaders slow down long enough to seek common ground rather than rushing to prove a point.

Increasingly, however, diplomacy seems to be losing ground.

The pace of communication today rewards immediacy over reflection. Social media encourages quick reactions rather than thoughtful dialogue. Public discourse often values strong statements more than careful listening. In that environment, the skills that once defined effective leadership, patience, discretion, and bridge-building, can begin to feel outdated.

But they are not outdated. They are essential.

In fact, the more complex our educational landscape becomes, the more important diplomacy becomes as well. Schools today face challenges that cannot be solved by one voice or one perspective alone. They require collaboration among educators, families, policymakers, and communities. That kind of collaboration does not happen by accident. It requires leaders who are willing to build trust slowly and intentionally.

Diplomacy does not mean avoiding difficult conversations. Quite the opposite. It means engaging those conversations with respect, humility, and a genuine willingness to understand others. It means recognizing that disagreement does not have to lead to division. In many cases, it can lead to stronger solutions.

For educational leaders, recovering the lost art of diplomacy may be one of the most important responsibilities we carry. Our schools are places where young people learn not only academics, but also how communities work together. The way we lead models the way collaboration, disagreement, and progress should look.

Leadership in education will always require courage, clarity, and conviction. But it also requires something quieter and just as powerful. It requires the ability to bring people together around a shared purpose.

Perhaps now more than ever, our schools need leaders who understand that progress is rarely achieved by winning arguments. It is achieved by building trust, finding common ground, and doing the patient work of moving people forward together. In many ways, recovering the lost art of diplomacy may be one of the most important lessons educational leadership can offer our communities today.

As you step into your role today, remember that you are not just an educator and leader but a shaper of the future. Your actions and decisions profoundly impact the lives of those you guide. Go, be the great educator and leader that our future needs.

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2026 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on… X @thebookchamber or follow the blog directly.

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Yes, Public Schools Should Be Able To Advocate For Themselves…

17 Friday Jan 2025

Posted by in Accountability, Actions, Advocate, Agenda, Choice, Communication, Context, Conversations, Courage, Decisions, Education, Educational Leadership, Effective, Expertise, Knowledge, Leader, Leadership, Legislators, Public Schools, Reality, School Choice, Teachers

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The 2025 Mississippi Legislative is happening, and educational issues are always on the table.

Let’s go back a week or so and look at a school district in Mississippi that distributed a flyer outlining their stance on various legislative matters, sparking a wave of online discussion. While they received some negative comments, there was also online support, proving their voice was heard.

What was on the flyer, you ask? In summary, they were for… Teacher pay raise, revision of the Mississippi Student Funding Formula, and increased emphasis on Career and Technical Education. As a district, they were against… Open enrollment/school choice, educational vouchers for private school tuition, and any decrease in retirement benefits of PERS employees.

As a public school educator, I agree with everything they stated. I’m not writing to debate their points with anyone. However, for what general reason do I agree? While public schools have many advocates, and I’m thankful for every one of them, who better to be an advocate than themselves? Which is what I would like to discuss…

Public schools are not just educational institutions; many are the cornerstones of our communities. They shape the educational experiences of our children, who form the future of our society. While other educational options exist, public schools play a unique and vital role. It’s crucial for them to engage in advocacy to ensure that proposed legislation aligns with the needs and aspirations of the students, educators, and families they serve.

Public schools are uniquely knowledgeable in providing valuable insights into the practical implications of proposed policies by articulating their positions on legislative matters, for they are the ones who know what public school education is and is about. The need for public schools to be part of the proactive engagement of self-advocacy should hopefully help legislators make informed decisions that support effective educational practices and promote student success in our public schools. It would seem that legislators would want to give an ear to those who know education.

School leaders who freely open lines of communication with their thoughts on legislative priorities foster transparency and encourage community involvement. That’s why many communities’ strength lies in the fact that they have a strong public school presence. Self-advocacy not only empowers stakeholders, parents, teachers, and community members to participate actively in the democratic process but also ensures that the community’s collective voice is heard in policy discussions, which should make them an integral part of the process. But, as we all know, you have to be willing to listen. Hearing is one thing; listening is altogether another.

It is also worth noting that many elected state officials have outlined their own legislative priorities for the upcoming session. Is there any difference when our elected officials have their own priorities and agendas? Some are valid and good, while some, I do not believe, represent the best for the overall good of public school education and the teachers. In this context, it is pertinent and reasonable for public schools to advocate for their positions on these and other legislative matters that directly impact their operations and the well-being of the public school institution.

But I need to digress. You might be tired of reading, so I’ll close with this…  

“Courage favors the bold,” and it is not only acceptable but also essential for public schools to advocate for themselves in legislative matters. Such advocacy helps pave the way for what should ensure that educational policies are shaped by those who are most intimately involved in the day-to-day realities of teaching and learning, ultimately leading to a more responsive and effective education system. As I have often stated, when we have non-educators making educational decisions and not listening to those who actually know education, education becomes the victim of __________ (you can fill in the blank).

This action underscores the importance of public schools advocating for themselves within the legislative process. It’s a call to action and to advocate, a reminder of the power and influence public schools have in shaping their future. I’m glad this school district took an educational stand and would hope more districts will also. 

If you are interested in other blog posts relating to educational advocacy, click the links…

Are You, As A Teacher, An Advocate For Our Profession?

If Teachers Are Not An Advocate For Teaching, Then Who Will?

As you step into your role today, remember that you are not just an educator and leader but a shaper of the future. Your actions and decisions profoundly impact the lives of those you guide. Go, be the great educator and leader that our future needs.

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2025 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on… X @thebookchamber or follow the blog directly.

It’s That Time Of The Year: Gifts That Keep On Giving In Education…

01 Friday Dec 2023

Posted by in Actions, Christmas, Classroom Leadership, Communication, Conversations, Culture, Decisions, Education, Educational Leadership, Encouragement, Joy, Leader, Leadership, Light, Students, Teachers, Unity

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It’s December 1, and Christmas time is officially here. With the season in full swing, as educators, we are presented with a unique opportunity to foster a sense of unity, joy, and growth within our schools for three weeks. With diversity in schools, Christmas is sometimes celebrated differently due to cultures, or if at all, in student households. However, Christmas is a festive season, a time for celebration, and a period with immense potential to wrap up the first semester by creating an enriching and supportive environment that can help jumpstart and motivate for the second semester.

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Christmas time offers a sense of belonging. One thing is certain: in education, we foster a community for many students who have the need for belonging and need acceptance. As we lead in our schools, we might be the only ones offering belonging…

Communication is key to belonging. Educators can use this time to communicate, as stated in the beginning, to convey a sense of joy, unity, growth, and many other characteristics that may not be explicitly seen during the different times of the school year. A simple gesture of gratitude telling a student thank you might do wonders for their self-esteem (everyone enjoys this, by the way).

As we all know, educators remain a crucial piece of the jigsaw puzzle in setting the tone for a positive and inclusive atmosphere, welcoming all (why would we not?). How we decide to do this helps light the candle, brightening the season’s spirit. It starts with each one of us. Lighting someone else’s candle is hard if yours is not burning.

Educational leadership during Christmas is an extra opportunity to create a nurturing and vibrant learning environment. Throughout the school year, educators can make a lasting impact on students. Still, there are times, as now, when this impact can be even more relevant. As we celebrate the season, let us remember that the spirit of Christmas extends beyond festivities—it is a time for joy, unity, and growth. These are gifts that keep on giving (and no, not the jelly of the month club gift, Cousin Eddie).

Let’s go fight the good fight of leadership. Someone has to…

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2023 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on… Twitter @thebookchamber or follow the blog directly.

Want to share this leadership thought with others? Click on one of the social media sharing buttons below and help spread the good…

Do you help your students “Seize the day?”

03 Friday Mar 2023

Posted by in Achieve, Actions, Classroom Leadership, Classroom Management, Conversations, Education, Educational Leadership, Encouragement, Expectations, Inspiration, Intentional, Intentions, Kindness, Leader, Leadership, Purpose, Relationships, Teachers

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“Carpe diem… Seize the day.” For the younger readers out there, this was a classic movie, Dead Poet’s Society, 1989. For us older, distinguished veterans, we should remember it well.

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There is this one scene that I like where the teacher, Mr. Keating, played by Robin Williams, takes his class out to the commons on the first day of class and has them look at the former students who came before them. While there, Mr. Keating tries to awaken their spirits, per se, into making the most of the time they have. In the clip, these words are spoken by Mr. Keating, “… seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.”

Watch the clip here: Carpe diem… Seize the day – Dead Poet’s Society

While watching and listening to the clip, I thought about this… The other day I stopped by the bank on the way home, and the teller asked me how my day at school was. I said, “fine,” and she said, “I don’t know how ya’ll do it.” I figured she was talking about teaching… So I said, “Well, I can either focus on who they are or who they can be.” She just looked at me like I had two heads and changed the subject. I wondered if she wanted to continue the direction of the conversation, but I was not going to speak negatively about education. Sure, we have problems, but so does every other occupation. Anyway…

How does this all tie in? Well, how many times as educators do we “seize the day” to make the lives of our students extraordinary? It’s easy to focus on what walks through the classroom door, but do we ever consider what they can be when they walk out the door? Do we focus so much on the negative aspects of students that we forget that they might not become who they can be without our help? This goes for all aspects of education… Teachers and students, administrators and teachers, School leaders, etc.

While I believe Mr. Keating wanted his students to understand that, ultimately, it is up to the individual to “seize the day.” Knowing or unknowingly, at the same time, he was helping them understand that. That’s where we make the most of who our students can be. Giving them belief, giving them hope for their future, and modeling an example that says, be different for the right reason.

Oh, to help a student to feel extraordinary, to help them “seize the day.” Most might not do that on their own. Let’s help them “seize the day” by us doing the same. Our lives might just feel extraordinary if we do.

Let’s go fight the good fight of leadership. Someone has to…

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2023 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on… Twitter @thebookchamber or follow the blog directly.